Ross Mitchell is “the man” for a Bulldogs staff that has been pretty deep out of the bullpen. Here’s what Allen remember about hitting against Mitchell last year.

“I was just trying to drive the ball the other way. Everything he throws is down at the knees, and he obviously commands the strike zone with all his pitches. You just really focus on going that way with it and not trying to do too much. He’s one of those guys that if you think you’ve got him figured out and you muscle up you can be out and sitting on the bench very quickly. You have to keep calm, breathe, stick to your approach and drive it the other way.”

Mitchell will pitch tonight.

Allen says he’s also spoken with younger teammates about the atmosphere at MSU’s Dudy Noble Field.

“I’ve already had a couple of guys ask me questions like ‘What’s the atmosphere? What are their students going to say, like is it going to be bad?’ It’s SEC baseball. It’s like that everywhere we go. There are rivalries popping up at tons of different schools. State’s not different. We know it’s going to be a tough atmosphere. They draw just as good of crowds as us. We’re looking forward to it especially with all the events going on. We know it’s going to be a big deal.”

I understand that visiting players are heckled at anyone’s home field. As you so often hear, ‘That’s baseball.’

I would disagree with Allen, however. It will be different when Ole Miss visits MSU.

I don’t think it will be anything the Ole Miss players can’t handle, but it will be different, and it will negatively impact a game or games if they allow themselves to become rattled.